Why the worlds children die

Pollution, water scarcity, lack of basic sanitation among leading causes

Children in developing countries struggle to survive in the face of water pollution and scarcity, lack of basic sanitation, and poor nutrition.

PHOTO COURTESY?OF?GETTY?IMAGES

Dear “Earth Talk”: What are the leading causes of child mortality around the world, and what can be done about it? — Susan Hale, Oquawka, Ill.

The statistics are staggering. In the world’s poorest countries, more than 30,000 children under the age of 5 die each day of preventable causes related to conditions of extreme poverty. Bono and others tried to call attention to this fact last year in TV ads showing well-known celebrities snapping their fingers every three seconds, each snap representing another tragic child death.

A baby girl born in sub-Saharan Africa today faces a 22 percent risk of death by age 15, and more than a third of casualties are babies who don’t survive their first month. They suffer from low birthweight resulting from their mothers’ poor nutrition and then lack access to adequate nutrition themselves. The World Health Organization says that poverty-related malnutrition is the key factor in more than half of all childhood deaths.

Many children suffer from debilitating infections virtually out of the womb, and analysts say that often casualties could be prevented if just basic sanitation were available. Drinking-water pollution is a leading culprit. In areas that lack proper sanitation and that may have just one water source, supplies can easily become contaminated by bacteria in human waste and garbage. According to United Nations statistics, as many as 4 billion people — two-thirds of global population — lack access to safe, clean water.

Concern on the part of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has spurred renewed efforts to increase education and distribute low-cost but needed tools such as antibiotics and sterile medical implements. “Some global health problems, like AIDS, have no easy solution — but this isn’t one of them,” says computer-geek-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates. “The world has an opportunity to stop millions of newborn deaths each year.”

Debt and population issues are also among the underlying causes of this global tragedy. Some poor nations must pay more in service of international loans than on the health and education of their people. Yielding to pressure from “Make Poverty History” advocates, leaders of the world’s top industrialized nations last year agreed to cancel $40 billion in debt owed by the world’s 18 poorest countries. However, experts point out that this only covers about a sixth of the debt owed, for example, by African nations.

Birthrates continue to soar well above the replacement level of two children per couple, and population is growing well beyond the “carrying capacity” of these poor countries. This has a profound effect on the environment, as well as on human misery. According to Population Action International, “More than 200 million women in the developing world today wish to delay or end childbearing but do not have access to modern and effective contraceptives.” In spite of this, the Bush administration has steadily cut family-planning aid to developing countries in the name of preventing abortions, though on June 9 of this year the House overwhelmingly adopted a bill to restore aid that had been previously cut. Says PAI, “U.S. leadership and investments in international family-planning assistance are critical in order to ensure healthy mothers, healthy pregnancies, and ultimately, healthy families.”